The Spastic Paraplegia-Associated Phospholipase DDHD1 Is a Primary Brain Phosphatidylinositol Lipase.

Deleterious mutations in the serine hydrolase DDHD domain containing 1 (DDHD1) cause the SPG28 subtype of the neurological disease hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP), which is characterized by axonal neuropathy and gait impairments. DDHD1 has been shown to display PLA1-type phospholipase activity with a preference for phosphatidic acid. However, the endogenous lipid pathways regulated by DDHD1 in vivo remain poorly understood. Here we use a combination of untargeted and targeted metabolomics to compare the lipid content of brain tissue from DDHD1+/+ and DDHD1-/- mice, revealing that DDHD1 inactivation causes a substantial decrease in the level of polyunsaturated lysophosphatidylinositol (LPI) lipids and a corresponding increase in the level of phosphatidylinositol (PI) lipids. Levels of other phospholipids were mostly unchanged, with the exception of decreases in the levels of select polyunsaturated lysophosphatidylserine (LPS) and lysophosphatidylcholine lipids and a striking remodeling of PI phosphates (e.g., PIP and PIP2) in DDHD1-/- brain tissue. Biochemical assays confirmed that DDHD1 hydrolyzes PI/PS to LPI/LPS with sn-1 selectivity and accounts for a substantial fraction of the PI/PS lipase activity in mouse brain tissue. These data indicate that DDHD1 is a principal regulator of bioactive LPI and other lysophospholipids, as well as PI phosphates, in the mammalian nervous system, pointing to a potential role for these lipid pathways in HSP.

Functional Contribution of the Spastic Paraplegia-Related Triglyceride Hydrolase DDHD2 to the Formation and Content of Lipid Droplets.

Deleterious mutations in the serine lipase DDHD2 are a causative basis of complex hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP, subtype SPG54) in humans. We recently found that DDHD2 is a principal triglyceride hydrolase in the central nervous system (CNS) and that genetic deletion of this enzyme in mice leads to ectopic lipid droplet (LD) accumulation in neurons throughout the brain. Nonetheless, how HSP-related mutations in DDHD2 relate to triglyceride metabolism and LD formation remains poorly understood. Here, we have characterized a set of HSP-related mutations in DDHD2 and found that they disrupt triglyceride hydrolase activity in vitro and impair the capacity of DDHD2 to protect cells from LD accumulation following exposure to free fatty acid, an outcome that was also observed with a DDHD2-selective inhibitor. We furthermore isolated and characterized LDs from brain tissue of DDHD2-/- mice, revealing that they contain both established LD-associated proteins identified previously in other organs and CNS-enriched proteins, including several proteins with genetic links to human neurological disease. These data, taken together, indicate that the genetic inactivation of DDHD2, as caused by HSP-associated mutations, substantially perturbs lipid homeostasis and the formation and content of LDs, underscoring the importance of triglyceride metabolism for normal CNS function and the key role that DDHD2 plays in this process.

The hereditary spastic paraplegia-related enzyme DDHD2 is a principal brain triglyceride lipase.

Complex hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) is a genetic disorder that causes lower limb spasticity and weakness and intellectual disability. Deleterious mutations in the poorly characterized serine hydrolase DDHD2 are a causative basis for recessive complex HSP. DDHD2 exhibits phospholipase activity in vitro, but its endogenous substrates and biochemical functions remain unknown. Here, we report the development of DDHD2(-/-) mice and a selective, in vivo-active DDHD2 inhibitor and their use in combination with mass spectrometry-based lipidomics to discover that DDHD2 regulates brain triglycerides (triacylglycerols, or TAGs). DDHD2(-/-) mice show age-dependent TAG elevations in the central nervous system, but not in several peripheral tissues. Large lipid droplets accumulated in DDHD2(-/-) brains and were localized primarily to the intracellular compartments of neurons. These metabolic changes were accompanied by impairments in motor and cognitive function. Recombinant DDHD2 displays TAG hydrolase activity, and TAGs accumulated in the brains of wild-type mice treated subchronically with a selective DDHD2 inhibitor. These findings, taken together, indicate that the central nervous system possesses a specialized pathway for metabolizing TAGs, disruption of which leads to massive lipid accumulation in neurons and complex HSP syndrome.

Development and optimization of piperidyl-1,2,3-triazole ureas as selective chemical probes of endocannabinoid biosynthesis.

We have previously shown that 1,2,3-triazole ureas (1,2,3-TUs) act as versatile class of irreversible serine hydrolase inhibitors that can be tuned to create selective probes for diverse members of this large enzyme class, including diacylglycerol lipase-ß (DAGLß), a principal biosynthetic enzyme for the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG). Here, we provide a detailed account of the discovery, synthesis, and structure-activity relationship (SAR) of (2-substituted)-piperidyl-1,2,3-TUs that selectively inactivate DAGLß in living systems. Key to success was the use of activity-based protein profiling (ABPP) with broad-spectrum and tailored activity-based probes to guide our medicinal chemistry efforts. We also describe an expanded repertoire of DAGL-tailored activity-based probes that includes biotinylated and alkyne agents for enzyme enrichment coupled with mass spectrometry-based proteomics and assessment of proteome-wide selectivity. Our findings highlight the broad utility of 1,2,3-TUs for serine hydrolase inhibitor development and their application to create selective probes of endocannabinoid biosynthetic pathways.